Porter, Benson get Squaw wins in ‘Joe’ Dickey Electric Juniors

Gusts kept golfers busy Thursday at Avalon at Squaw Creek golf course — and carried two familiar faces to the top of the leaderboard in u17 action of The ‘Joe’ Dickey Electric Junior Greatest Golfer. Michael Porter of McDonald needed a playoff hole to earn his win. Leah Benson of Hermitage need to just settle down her new swing to earn a win. The two qualify for the July junior championships in the 11th annual Farmers National Bank Greatest Golfer of the Valley. Benson carded an 81 while Porter shot 80 — tying Tyler Anderson of Columbiana. The two played one playoff hole. Identical bombs of the tee set a yard apart in the No. 10 fairway. Anderson hit his to 15 feet, while Porter landed 7 feet away. Anderson’s putt just missed, giving Porter a 7-footer for the win. It lipped the cup and slid in the back door for the win. In u14 action, Bryce Daggett and Alexander Eckstein tied with 82s. Eckstein had already qualified Tuesday at Pine Lakes. So the qualifying bid went to Daggett. In girls u14, Zoey Stern shot 85 to earn a finals spot. • Here are all the Thursday scores: https://golfleaguesite.com/live_scores/1489/leaderboard?web=1 • Here’s the full summer scoreboard: https://golfleaguesite.com/standings?league_id=23 • Here are Thursday’s Top 5s. Girls u17 1 Leah Benson 81 2 McKenzie Gustas 83 3 Kyra Woods 87 4 Alyssa Rapp 90 5 Ava Staebler 93 Boys u17 1 Michael Porter* 80 1 Tyler Andersen 80 3 Caleb Domitrovich 83 4 Kaiden Sykes 84 5 Luke Eyster 86 • Porter wins with a birdie in a 1-hole playoff BOYS u14 1 Alexander Eckstein* 82 1 Bryce Daggett 82* 3 Matthew Morelli 88 3 Mick Ambrose 88 5 Anthony G Cesario 91 • Daggett earns the bid to the finals as Eckstein already qualified. GIRLS u14 1 Zoey Stern 85 2 Luciana Masters 92 3 Ava Liburdi 95 4 Kaitlyn Hoover 96